Page 41 of A Soul's Curse
“Hello again, Theo. Thank you for your patience. I see you have the grimoire, and Caspian is ready to honor his agreement. Bring the book to him, and he will grant you a half hour of his time.”
“A half hour? That’s not enough—”
“That is as generous of an offer as you’ll get. Take it or leave it. Know that if you refuse, he’ll obtain the grimoire, regardless.”
With my mouth gaping open, my gaze flashed toward Ren. With his brows furrowed and his lips slightly pressed together, he gave me a firm nod.
“Fine. When and where?”
“The ice cream shop on Derby Street. Melted Magic. Nine o’clock tonight. The shop will be closed. Wait outside until I giveyou the signal to enter. Don’t ask questions. Don’t even speak—just follow my lead. It should be quiet, but Salem never truly sleeps. We don’t want anyone catching wind of our meeting, so be on alert.”
Gray hung up after that, not even waiting for me to confirm the details. “Okay. So … we meet Caspian at an ice cream shop and give him the grimoire. But how do we convince him to play into the hands of the Syndicate?” I looked up at Ren, and he was already scratching his chin, his gaze settled on the table.
“I think … we tell him a half lie,” Ren suggested, hesitant with his words. “We need Caspian to trust you. Tell him that the Syndicate is watching him, but don’t tell him anything about your deal with Leon. Explain that the Syndicate attacked your friend, they’re after you already, and they’re coming after him next. But you’re fighting back. With your unique magic and connection to ghosts, you’re recruiting people with special powers to take them down once and for all.”
I pouted. “Okay. Let’s assume he actually believes that. Then what? We all enjoy ice cream sundaes like we’re best buds as we thwart their plans for world domination?”
“Then we go back to the Syndicate and tell them we found Caspian. My worry is what happens when Caspian finds out we deceived him. I’ve … heard stories about him. He doesn’t sound like the type of guy who will go down without a fight. He’s essentially like … a mob boss for ghosts, brokering deals between the living and the dead. He has connections and the Syndicate is vastly underestimating him. So I say, we do what we’ve been asked to. Bring them Caspian and let the phantom deal with the Syndicate and the aftermath.”
“And Ellie?” My pulse spiked at the thought. “What about the oath I made? I said I’d find Caspian and convince him to use his magic to help the Syndicate. Just delivering him to the Syndicate isn’t enough.”
A devious smirk curled Ren’s lip. “Words can be twisted, my dear friend. You found Caspian. And the definition ofhelpcan be interpreted in a number of different ways. It wasn't specifically defined what he was meant tohelpwith. In my mind, you are convincing him to use his magic to help bring down the Syndicate. You completed your terms of the deal. Unless Leon wants to suffer the consequences of not following through onhispart, he’ll be forced to return Ellie to her body.”
“Ohhh …” My expression shifted from shock, to realization, to absolute joy before hesitation settled in. “That seems a little too … easy. You really think it’ll work?”
Ren’s shoulders hunched, his confidence deflating. “Not all plans have to be dangerous and flashy. But honestly? I don’t know, Theo. There are a million things that could go wrong, but if we play our cards right, we’ll outsmart Leon and come out on top with a win.”
“Okay, then.” I slapped my hands on the table and stood up.
“Okay?” Bewildered, Ren cocked an eyebrow. “You’re not going to push back? To demand we … I don’t know, ask Caspian to attempt a cleansing spell on Ellie or something?”
“Is that an option?” I shook my head. “I trust you, Ren. I know we’ve had our differences, but I’m out of my element here. I trust that you’ll do what’s best for us and for Ellie. If this is the plan you think we should go with, then I’ll support you in whatever way you need.”
“Wow. Um, I … was honestly expecting a bit more of an argument.” Ren’s voice had quieted.
The truth was, Ihadbeen thinking about asking Caspian if he had some kind of magical spell up his sleeve to find Ellie and return her magic to her body. I also thought about asking him if he could dissolve the oath between me and Leon, since it wasn’t something I could do myself, and the ideawasstill swirling around my mind. It was hard to ignore the easy, obviousanswers to our problems. Why give the Syndicate anything if we didn’t have to? Maybe I’d conjure up the courage to ask Caspian anyway. Maybe he’d take pity on a fellow ghost suffering without her body and help me out.
Ren groaned and he began rubbing his palms against his temples. His face suddenly paled, and his shoulders slumped.
“Ren?” I asked, rounding the table to stand by his side, my hands ready to work some magic. “Are the meds upsetting you? You seemed off the other day, too.”
He pushed me away as he stood up. “I’m fine. Just … maybe that sandwich didn’t agree with me. I have to go check in on a few things. I’ll be back before our meeting with Caspian tonight. I won’t let you walk into this alone. For all we know, this whole thing could be a trap.”
“Are you sure?” I held out my hands as he swayed, as if I could actually catch the big demon if he collapsed. “If you’re feeling nauseous or something, I can help with that.”
“No need. Save your magic for tonight. I’m sure whatever this is will pass after I take a nap.”
He made his way up the stairs to the familiar closet door I now knew led to his other home in Boston. Until Ren returned, I went back to the basement to continue my work. I grabbed the book of poisons he gave me, noting that he had left the grimoire behind as well.
“He never lets that book out of his sight.” I ran my fingers along the worn, cracked leather, feeling the deep creases and faded imperfections beneath my touch. As I carefully pried it open, dust curled into the air, the scent of old ink and timeworn pages settling around me like a whisper from the past.
Soul swapwas written at the top of the page in sloppy, handwritten ink. This one looked like a slightly different spell than the one Ren spoke about the other day, regarding Caspian’s motives. This one seemed more like a … trading of souls insteadof transferring one permanently to another body. I wondered if this was how the Syndicate planned to steal Caspian’s magic for their own. They could certainly steal his magic outright, but if they keep his likeness as well, no one would know it wasn’t really him.
“The caster must have precise control over magical energy, or the spell will become unstable. Ideally, the two souls should share a close connection, but if a soul were to be taken by force, or if a second soul was absent …” I started reading to myself. The rest of that sentence was smudged, but I had a feeling the result it yielded wasn’t something pleasant.
“Hmm,” I contemplated something. “I wonder if I could use something like this to find Ellie’s body. Her soul, her very magical essence, isn’t currently attached to her body, though …”
I stared at the spell for the next twenty minutes, trying to decipher the rest of the horrible handwriting, drawings of runes, and smudged ink.
